U.S. sees positive signs in Egyptian voting

WASHINGTON — The United States said Monday that independent US observers see the first post-revolution elections in Egypt as enjoying high voter turnout without violence or voting irregularities.

“What they’ve been able to see so far has been quite positive,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

“There’s been a high turnout. In some areas, there were some lines, but that… was to be expected. But it’s been entirely peaceful, from what they’ve seen,” Toner said.

“So I think, you know, those two characterizations — high turnout and no violence — I think speak to the success of this first day,” Toner added.

He also said “there’ve been no irregularities” reported in the first day of voting.

He said the observers come from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (registered in the US), the Carter Center at Emory University, and the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute.

Ten months since the end of 30 years of autocratic rule by Hosni Mubarak, ousted by popular protests in one of the seminal events of the Arab Spring, up to 40 million Egyptian voters are being asked to choose a new parliament.